Brik

A whole raw egg goes in and must still be runny when it is eaten, which gives about three minutes in the pan.

Fish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

the parcels

• 6 sheets malsouka or brick pastry
• 6 eggs
• 200 g tinned tuna in oil, drained
• 1 onion, very finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons capers
• a large handful of parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons harissa
• 2 boiled potatoes, crushed (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground caraway
• salt and black pepper

to fry

• 700 ml sunflower oil

to serve

• lemon wedges

Method

1. A WHOLE RAW EGG GOES IN AND MUST STILL BE RUNNY WHEN IT IS EATEN, which gives about three minutes in the pan from start to plate. That constraint governs everything else. The egg is cracked whole onto the filling, the pastry is folded over it, and the parcel goes straight into hot oil for perhaps ninety seconds a side -- long enough for the pastry to crisp and the white to set, not long enough for the yolk to firm. It is then eaten immediately, in the hand, with a bite taken at one corner so the yolk runs out rather than down your wrist. A brik with a set yolk is a cooked pastry and the whole performance of the dish is gone.
2. THE FILLING IS BUILT AS A WALL AROUND THE EGG, NOT UNDER IT. The tuna, onion, capers and parsley are arranged in a ring on the pastry and the egg is cracked into the middle of that ring. The filling holds the egg in place while the parcel is folded and lifted; spread flat with the egg on top, the yolk slides to one edge and breaks as it goes in the oil.
3. THE EGG IS CRACKED IN AT THE LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT. One parcel is assembled and fried, then the next. A tray of six made up in advance will have six pastry sheets going soggy from the white, and they tear on lifting.
4. THE PASTRY IS FOLDED AND NOT SEALED WITH WATER. Malsouka is thin and slightly tacky and folds onto itself. Water makes it slippery and it comes apart in the oil; egg wash makes it leathery.
5. THE OIL IS AT 180°C AND THE PARCEL IS SLID IN FLAT. Hot, and the parcel supported on a slotted spoon as it goes so it lands flat rather than folding over itself. In cool oil the pastry absorbs instead of crisping and the egg cooks through while it waits.
6. IT IS NOT DRAINED ON PAPER FOR LONG. Straight out, a second on the paper, onto the plate. Resting on paper steams the underside soft, and the window for a crisp brik is very short.
7. CARAWAY AND HARISSA BOTH GO IN THE FILLING. The two threads that run through this whole cuisine. Without them it is a tuna and egg pasty.
8. The tuna, onion, capers, parsley, harissa, crushed potato if using, caraway and seasoning mixed.
9. The oil heated to 180°C.
10. ONE sheet of pastry laid out and a sixth of the filling arranged in a RING, leaving a hollow in the middle.
11. An EGG cracked into the hollow. Done ONE AT A TIME.
12. The pastry FOLDED OVER into a triangle or half-moon and pressed down. NOT wetted.
13. Slid in FLAT on a slotted spoon and fried 90 SECONDS a side, until golden and crisp.
14. Lifted out, a SECOND on paper, and onto the plate.
15. TESTED: the yolk must still run when it is bitten. A set yolk means too long in the oil or too long on the paper.
16. Eaten at once in the hand, with lemon.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Tunisia · All recipes